A class project by some Pekin Community High School juniors aims to educate the public about the Underground Railroad’s place in Tazewell County history.
The students researched the local trails, farmhouses, “conductors,” and individuals fleeing slavery through the county, producing a web-based slideshow detailing their findings as a way to raise community awareness.
“I just think the project itself was very educational,” said Alaya Lewis, one of more than 50 contributors to the project. “I think it’ll do a lot of good, and like learning about your town and the actual history behind it, because I had no idea that this was even a thing.”
Isabella McCain said one of her biggest takeaways from participating in the project was discovering the Underground Railroad was more than just an escape network.
“It’s a powerful example of courage, teamwork and the fight for freedom,” said McCain. “I think it really shows the risk that those take for others.”
Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman held a media session at the high school Wednesday to showcase the students’ project. He touted the students’ project as a precursor to a statewide effort through the creation of the Illinois Freedom Trails Commission.
“Part of that is to be encouraging local schools to take a more active role in educating students on that rich history that lies within their communities,” said Ackerman. “This wonderful site just shows how the students of Pekin High School are one step ahead of the state of Illinois in the desire to make this more publicly available.”
The legislation establishing the Freedom Trails Commission was brought forward by State Sen. Dave Koehler of Peoria. It has passed both General Assembly houses and is awaiting Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature.
In a news release, Koehler commended the Pekin students on their project.
“Their work not only highlights the courage and resilience of those involved in the Underground Railroad, but it also helps our community appreciate and preserve this important part of our past,” Koehler said in the release.
Social studies teacher Colleen Kahl and art teacher Brandon Phillips guided the students through developing the web presentation, which uses the platform Prezi. The project also got assistance from the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society.
In the last two years, Kahl and Phillips led two other history-based class projects focused on Nance Legins-Costley and Tazewell County Veterans, both earning recognition from the Illinois State Historical Society.
“Over these past three years, the students have always amazed me with the amount of abilities they have to honor and represent visually, not just written, using their artistic skills in order to bring history to life,” said Phillips.
In addition to the historical research and information, students provided creative writing and artwork to the project, such as poems and watercolor quilt squares in reference to a method many believe was used for coded messaging on the Underground Railroad.
Angelina Bushart contributed a poem to the project, written from the viewpoint of a hypothetical Underground Railroad conductor.
“I explored the different psychological factors of these conductors and these slaves, and I took on the factor that these slaves were under such trauma that they had to escape this slavery,” she said. “And the doctors were having so much stress by this because of the factor of bounty hunters that were going to hunt these people down.”
Alexandria Weydert said her research for the project familiarized her with two conductors, brothers James and John Scott. Weydert said she’s fond of history but also was unaware of Tazewell County’s connections to the Underground Railroad.
“Learning about it opened like this whole other door, I guess, for me of a whole other part of Tazewell County history I get to explore,” said Weydert. “Now I can tell people about it, and I get to spread the word and story of it.”
Ackerman took the opportunity to showcase the efforts of Tazewell County abolitionists as a contrast to Pekin’s checkered history with race relations and past connections to the Ku Klux Klan.
“Over the last several years, we have made enormous strides within the community to promote other history of the activities within the City of Pekin and Tazewell County,” he said. “While we’ve never promoted, and would never promote, erasing any form of history – and it is accepted that that is part of the history of the city of Pekin.
“It is not the full history of the City of Pekin. It does not reflect the attitude or the desires of the individuals living within this community today.”
Ella Ingolia said that message exemplifies the importance of their Underground Railroad project.
“When we forget about history, we often start making mistakes again,” said Ingolia. “We forget the importance of what it brought, how people came from different areas, and the struggles that people had.
“Yes, there’s always going to be two sides of everything. But it shows that a lot of people contributed to helping people that were enslaved, and it shows that the help that people contributed changed history.”
The project website is available here, and can also be accessed through the Pekin Community High School and Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society websites.
